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Construction of WA’s world-class museum underway

Major construction is underway on Western Australia’s new museum, delivering more than 3,000 jobs and a world-class attraction for tourists and locals.

Premier Mark McGowan and Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman visited the new museum site today to announce the signing of the Stage Two agreement between the State and the managing contractor, Multiplex, which will see the completion of the project.

The WA Government has gone through the contract and the design with a fine-toothed comb to provide the best possible deal for taxpayers, while ensuring that the final design delivers a world-class museum for Western Australia.

The new museum includes:

  • Seven major galleries that will share the stories of Western Australia, its people, its places and its relationship with the wider world;
  • A 1,000 sqm temporary exhibition gallery for home-grown and touring exhibitions;
  • Learning studios and programmable spaces for visitors and groups of all ages, including schools;
  • Retail, café and commercial spaces;
  • Activated public spaces both inside and outside the museum; and
  • A spectacular display of the State’s famous blue whale skeleton.

The new museum is expected to attract about 800,000 visitors in its first year and contribute about $31 million of extra tourism spend generated from international visitors staying an extra night in WA.

With construction moving full steam ahead, the building is expected to be complete in mid-2019. Exhibition fit-out is occurring the following year, ready for opening in 2020.